2014 Ebola Outbreak in West Africa – Outbreak Distribution Map

2014 Ebola Outbreak in West Africa – Outbreak Distribution Map

2014 Ebola Outbreak in West AfricaOutbreak Distribution Map

2014 Ebola Outbreak in West AfricaOutbreak Distribution Map

Ebola 101

Ebola is a viral disease that is presumed to be transmitted among humans through manipulation of raw bushmeat (sourced from tropical non-domesticated mammals, reptiles, amphibians and birds). Early detection is rendered difficult by the ordinary symptoms expressed (fever, weakness, muscle pain, headache) which are also common to the flu and malaria but, once the infection has fully taken place (see illustration below), a quick succession of vomiting, diarrhea, internal/external hemorrhage follows before death ensues. As it spreads from one individual to the next (mainly through the transmission of body fluids such as sweat), the virus grows exponentially as it occurs in hygiene lacking regions where sick family members have no solution but to be cared for by their immediate relatives (aggravating propagation rates). Even after death, the virus remains active until a contaminated body is either cremated or buried. It has become a common occurrence to witness traditional funeral practices where aid workers, dressed in anti-contamination suits, assist heartbroken families into manipulating an ebola infected body; creating an uncomfortable cultural clash between foreign helpers and deeply rooted African mentalities.

Why is there no vaccine or cure?

As of this writing, there is neither a vaccine nor a cure aimed at Ebola and, with one in two patients succumbing from the disease, development for a solution has been hindered by the lack of living subjects available for research. However, the duration of the current outbreak (the longest to this day), plus the international alarm attached to it, has triggered funding from the U.S Defense Department and the interest of smaller American (BioCryst, NancoViricides) as well as Canadian (Tekmira) pharmaceutical vendors into developing a treatment. While some of those experimental drugs tested on monkeys have shown recovery potential, none has yet to be applied onto a living human subject. Always a victim of low funding for research, the ebola virus now needs expensive human studies more than ever before it can safely be used during an outbreak.

Ebola in the U.S.: More than believe the hype?

With Health Aid Organizations such as Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) treating patients and assisting local health agencies in Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone, foreign aid workers have themselves become victims of the virus (US individuals Kent Brantly, Nancy Writebol; an anonymous French nurse). In each occurence, the infected individual has been rapatriated to his home country and placed under strict quarantine to follow treatment. With such heavy emphasis on non propagation protocols, the recent unearthing of an ebola infected Liberia national travelling to the U.S. (Thomas Duncan) who possibly infected up to 18 people in immediate contact, it is no surprise that national uproar is now pressuring airline companies in better monitoring foreign travellers originating from ebola infected regions.

The Thomas Duncan case may push ebola scare in the U.S. to new heights but the disease remains, according to Dr. Peter Hotez, M.D. from the Sabin Vaccine Institute, an “enormous hype” where numbers are concerned. Death toll wise, the number of people who have died from Ebola during the current West Africa outbreak is comparable to the number of people who perish in drunk driving accidents in Texas over the same amount of time and about the same number that die of malaria in Africa every day. In the words of Dr. Hotez, Ebola remains “a scary but rare disease”.

Enormous hype about Ebola: Breaking down the realistic threat of Ebola, and whether hospitals are prepared, with Dr. Peter Hotez, M.D. of Baylor College of Medicine. [2014-08-05. CNBC] [link]

Enormous hype about Ebola: Breaking down the realistic threat of Ebola, and whether hospitals are prepared, with Dr. Peter Hotez, M.D. of Baylor College of Medicine. [2014-08-05. CNBC] [link]

Enormous hype about Ebola: Breaking down the realistic threat of Ebola, and whether hospitals are prepared, with Dr. Peter Hotez, M.D. of Baylor College of Medicine. [2014-08-05. CNBC] [link]

Enormous hype about Ebola: Breaking down the realistic threat of Ebola, and whether hospitals are prepared, with Dr. Peter Hotez, M.D. of Baylor College of Medicine. [2014-08-05. CNBC] [link]